Warrior cats:Revenge of the moon Book 1: Innocence
by Silentsong23
Summary: Three clans of wildcats, Sunclan, Dawnclan and Duskclan, have lived in peace for moons. But such peace, comes with a heavy prize. Death and mystery plagues the clans as an unknown enemy approaches from the dark. A bleeding kit is found on Dawnclan s territory with no memory of who he is or where he came from. Who is he, and what does Dawnclan s leader know about him? R&R please!
1. ALLECIANCES, CLAN CUSTOMS AND TERRITORIE

THE ALLECIANCES

DAWNCLAN:  
Leader: Lightstar, a cream coloured she-cat wih wise,bright green eyes  
Deputy: Morningflower, a blue-grey she cat with a yellow muscle and left forepaw  
Medicine cat: Leafhollow, a ginger she-cat with dark spots on her back and green eyes  
Warriors:  
Sharpclaw: an intelligent dark grey tom with abnormally long claws; yellow eyes  
Silvertail; a light grey she-cat with a silver tail and yellow eyes  
Russetfur: a brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes  
Cloudwhisker: a white tom with bright blue eyes  
Mapletree: a light brown she-cat with glowing green eyes  
Badgerstroke: a black tom with a white stripe along his back like a badger  
Stonewall: a dark grey tom with amber eyes  
Happywave: an orange she- cat with happy blue eyes  
Squirreljump: a light cream coloured she-cat with brown eyes  
Dirtcloud: a dirt coloured tom with green eyes  
Lionscream: a big golden tabby tom with amber eyes  
Apprentices:  
Webpaw: a handsome dark grey tom with a white stripe on his forehead; green eyes (Mentor:Stonewall)  
Gingerpaw: a ginger she-cat with silver eyes (Mentor: Squirreljump)  
Sandpaw: a sand coloured tabby she-cat with blue eyes (Mentor:Russetfur)  
Swiftpaw: a white tom with blue eyes (Mentor: Cloudwhisker)  
Crowpaw: a black tom with amber eyes and a white muscle (Mentor: Happywave)  
Queens (expecting or nursing kits):  
Brightheart: a white she cat with blue eyes ( expecting Cloudwhisker's kits)  
Darkcloud: a dark grey she-cat with lighter flecks and amber eyes (expecting Runningwinds's kits)  
Juniperberry: a red she-cat with silver eyes (mother of Mosskit, Rosekit and Thornkit)  
Whitetail: a black she-cat with a white tail and yellow eyes (foster mother to Silentkit)  
Kits;  
Mosskit: a brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes  
Rosekit: a dark red tabby she-cat with amber eyes  
Thornkit: a light brown tabby tom with silver eyes  
Silentkit: a small pitch-black tom with a white patch around his left eye and a white right forepaw, he has dark blue eyes and small dots like stars on his nose  
Elders:  
Runningwind; a snow white tabby tom with amber eyes; he is blind on his left eye  
Flowerbed; a ginger she-cat with amber eyes; retired early do to a broken leg

DUSKCLAN:  
Leader: Stormstar; a dark grey tabby tom with lighter flecks and yellow eyes  
Deputy: Ashtail; an ash grey she cat with a cream coloured muscle and amber eyes  
Medicine cat: Whitewhisker; a white tom with a torn ear and blue eyes  
Medicine cat apprentice: Willowpaw; a dark brown she-cat with a red belly and amber eyes  
Warriors:  
Shadowclaw; a black tom with a white chest and underbelly;dark blue eyes  
Smoketree; a tall smoky grey tom with green eyes  
Icecloud; a snow white she-cat with one blue and one yellow eye  
Bluebell; a blue grey she-cat with bright blue eyes  
Treeheart; an oak coloured tom with amber eyes and a hint of green  
Apprentices:  
Tigerpaw; a brown tabby tom with darker stripes and yellow eyes (Mentor; Icecloud  
Leopardpaw: an orange she-cat with unusal dark spots and green eyes(Mentor; Smoketree)  
Creampaw; a cream coloured she-cat with a dark brown muscle and forepaw; green eyes(Mentor; Bluebell)  
Queens:  
Cherryblossom; a ginger she-cat with a black ear and blue eyes( Mother of Larchkit and Hollykit)  
Smallear; a grey she-cat with blue eyes and darker flecks  
Kits:  
Larchkit; a light grey tom with a white chest and blue eyes  
Hollykit; a dark ginger she-cat with green eyes  
Elders:  
Toadleap; former medicine cat; a light brown tabby tom with faded lighter spots; green eyes

SUNCLAN:  
Leader: Redstar; a white tom with red eartips and tail; blue eyes  
Deputy: Cranktail; a grey and black tom with amber eyes  
Medicine cat: Cinderheart; a light grey she-cat with green eyes  
Warriors:  
Tigertail; a brown tabby tom with darker stripes and icy blue eyes  
Watersplash; a blue grey she cat with silver eyes  
Amberclaw; a brown she-cat with amber eyes  
Liongaze; a golden tom with a red mane and green eyes  
Lilytree; a ginger she-cat with unusal green eyes  
Foxlight; a red tom with a white tail and muscle; silver eyes  
Apprentices:  
Fishpaw; a cream coloured tom with blue eyes  
Goldpaw;a golden she-cat with amber eyes  
Queens;  
Fernblossom; a ginger she-cat with amber eyes  
Elders:  
Birdjump; a grey tom with faded brown spots; silver eyes  
Calicostar; former Sunclan leader; a brown calico tom with green eyes; retired from old age and sickness

CATS OUTSIDE THE CLANS  
Splotch: an old dark grey loner tom(former kittypet)with black splotches and stripes; a torn ear and a scratch on his nose;orange eyes  
CLAN CUSTOMS AND TERRITORIES  
DAWNCLAN:  
Dawnclan's terrirtory is quite similar to that of Riverclans's old forest territory. There are trees and small clumps of undergrowth that provide cover for hunting in the woods. A river runs at the edge of their territory marking a border to unsettled land. On the other side of the territory, the trees vanish and the land opens up to moorland. This marks their border with Sunclan. The river that runs in their territory, goes past Dawnclan's camp. They are the only clan to live so close to water as it is seen as dangerous by the other clans. Many has questioned their reason for living so close, but the only response is that they have their reasons. Because of this, when kits reach four moons, they will be thaught how to swim. Dawnclan's main source of food is fish, water vole and mouse, though sometimes, if prey is scarce, the will eat forest prey, like squirrel, trush and others. Dawnclan follows the warrior code and believes in Starclan. (They have pretty much the same traditions as the original clans from the books) Dawnclan is seen as the kindest of the three clans. They are also extremely loyal to one another, and will never abandon a clanmate or any cat in need. They have strong sense of justice and are not afraid to act if they think someone is being treated unfairly.

DUSKCLAN:  
Duskclans territory is special, as it has neither trees nor undergrowth. Their territory is filled with rock and sand, huge boulders, holes and steep cliffs. It is somewhat like a mountain, except it's not. The air is neither cold nor warm during leaf-fall, but when newleaf and greenleaf comes, the air is warm. And during leaf-bare it is the coldest of the four territories. The only source of water they have is a small stream at the edge off their territory that marks the border with Sunclan. On the other end of the territory, tall pine trees and oak trees grow. This marks the border to unsettled land(the same as Dawnclans) and the end of their territory When it rains, the holes ia filled with water and creates small poodles of wich the cats can get water. Because there is nearly no shelter for the sun, Dawnclan's camp is located undeground. Tunnels have been dug that leads straight to the heart of their camp. Underground caves serves as the cats dens. Dawnclans source of prey is mainly hawks, the occasional mouse and if they are lucky, water voles from the stream. In Duskclan, kits are thaught how to dig in case an emergency would happen, like one of the tunnels collapsing. This trains their muscles and makes them hard and sturdy. Because of this, Duskclan's warriors is seen as one of the strongest warriors. They believe in Starclan and the warrior code. Though because they are so different from the other clans (and the fact that they are so proud of it), makes them arrogant and reckless.

SUNCLAN:  
Sunclans territory, as well as their camp, is the same as Windclan's. The warriors sleep outside beneath the stars and do not have any dens. They use the same stream as Duskclan to mark the border between the two territories. On the other side, the moorland ends and a forest stretches out, this marks the border with Dawnclan. They hunt mainly rabbits and in rare occasions, mouse. Sunclan is seen as the fastest and more carefree of the three clans. They follow the warrior code just as the others clans do, though their traditions are slightly different. When the apprentices become warriors, they don't have assessments. Instead the apprentices have to run around the entire territory, mark the borders, and return to camp within a time limit. Only one apprentice can do it at a time.

GATHERING:  
The place where the three clans meet every full moon is located in between Dawnclan and Duskland with Sunclan to the right and the unsettled territory to the left. It is a wide clearing with four giant rocks in the middle. Around the rock is a pool of water in wich the rivers run out from. In order to get to the boulders you have to step over stones that lies in the water. Only the leaders are allowed on the boulders, they address the clans from on top of them. In addition to being the gathering place, the clearing is also where the medicine cats go to share dreams with Starclan and where the leaders get their nine lives.

UNSETTLED TERRITORY:  
The unsettled territory is shrouded in mysteries. Tall oak and pine trees grow so tall and tight that the treeleaves utterly conceals the sun. Even so, plants still grow and the forest floor is rich with bushes and undergrowth. A thick fog surrounds the forest, making the air cold and damp. The forest is forbidden territory, no one dares enter the territory. There is many dangers in the forest, secrets beyond imagination. All of the forest cats can sense its dangers, thus no one enters


	2. PROLOGUE: NEW ARRIVAL

Whitetail woke to the sound of whispering cats, curious she padded out to the clearing. Several cats were gathered in the centre of the clearing, whispering silently to one another. Whitetail walked over to the nearest cat, an orange she-cat with blue eyes. "Happytail what's going on?"she asked, the she-cat looked at her in shock ""You haven't heard?" Whitetail shook her head. "Morningflower, Badgerstroke and Squirreljump found and abandoned kitten while they were out on patrol. The kitten was badly injured and was bleeding heavily. Leafhollow is taking care of him as we speak". In that very moment, Leafhollow, Dawnclan's medicine cat, stepped out of her den and into the clearing. She looked tired and completely worn out , Morningflower, the deputy, walked over to her, concern in her eyes. "Is the kit going to be alright?" she asked, Leafhollow nodded " You were lucky you found him when you did. If you had found him a few minutes, no seconds later, he would proably would have been dead by now". Morningflower nodded " I'll report to Lightstar immediatly, she have to know what has happened here tonight" with that she padded over to Lightstar's den and vanished. Some of the other cats started disappearing in to their dens aswell, but not Whitetail. She walked over to Leafhollow who had sat down and was now licking her front paw. "Eh..Leafhollow?" she mumbled, the she-cat looked up "Yes?" she asked curiously. "What is it, Whitetail?". Whitetail looked down at her paws "I was just wondering If i could see that kitten" Leafhollow looked weird at her for a second, but then she smiled and nodded "Of course, but you have to be silent, he is sleeping right now and i don't want to wake him up". Whitetail nodded to signal that she understood and followed Leafhollow in to the medicine cat's den.

Leafhollow's den was the biggest in the clan, there were cracks and overhangs on the wall were Leafhollow could store her herbs, and there was a small poodle not far from the entrance were cats could easily reach and drink. Farthest away from the entrance,at the far back of the den was were Leafhollow used to sleep. Right beside the poodle, curled in a mossy nest sleeping, lay a small pitch-black kitten, barely a moon old. The kitten had a white patch on his left eye, he had white dots on his nose like stars, and his chest and right forepaw was also white. He had a long,fresh reddish scar along his back,Whitetail wondered what could have caused such a wound. "I am not actually allowed to show him to anyone, but I thought it would be okay because it's you" Leafhollow said confidently, "Why not?" Whitetail asked. Leafhollow simply shrugged "I don't know, Morningflower's orders. I guess she wants Lightstar to see the kit before anyone else is allowed". Whitetail nodded, though she knew it wasn't the real reason" I understand, then I wont stay long". Whitetail and Leafhollow went and sat beside the small kitten "He is so small" Whitetail whispered, afraid that If she spoke to loud she'd wake the kit. Leafhollow nodded "It's a miracle he is still breathing. Normally kits at his age wouldn't have been able to survive such a fatal wound" there was a hint of admiration in Leafhollow's voice, but she didn't say anything more. " Have you given him chervil leaves?" Whitetail asked "Of course I have! Don't you think I don't know how to take care of my patients?". Despite her tone, Leafhollow wasn't angry and Whitetail knew that she had asked a stupid question. Of course she would have given the kit chervil leaves, she was a medicine cat after all. " So, he hasn't woken up yet?" Whitetail asked, Leafhollow shook her head " No, and I dont expect him to wake up anytime soon". Whitetail nodded "When do you think he'll wake up?" she asked more to herself than any other. Leafhollow shrugged " I dont know, a quarter moon maybe" she mumbled

"It depends" Leafhollow looked down at the kit, toughtfull.

"He is strong, he might wake up in a mere few days" she added,

"Hm,okay, I understand" Whitetail mumbled,

"Do we know who he is?" She asked, looking over at Leafhollow

"No, not yet" she replied,

"Do you think he could be-? Whitetail began,

Leafhollow looked at her, clearly shocked at even the thought of it, "No, of course not! The patrol found him near the Sunclan border, if he is what you think he is, he wouldn't have been able to walk that far. He is too young, he would have died from bloodloss!"

"But-"

"Sshh, you know we are not supposed to talk about it!"

"Okay, okay, I am sorry, it's just, this might be our first clue"

Leafhollow looked at her and shook her head "Please Whitetail, just let it go. We can't know anything for sure, we have to wait till he wakes up"

"Okay then, let's talk about something else" Whitetail suggested

"So, how have you been? I haven't seen you in a while, not since.." Leafhollow began, but Whitetail interrupted her "I'd better get going, starting from tomorrow I am on warrior duties again" she said hastily, getting up. She didn't want to talk about it, and things were starting to get a little tense between them. Leafhollow flicked her tail in acknowledgement and nodded.

As Whitetail was about to leave the den, she crashed into a cat and tumbled to the ground, landing on her back with a thump. " I'm so sorry, I didn't see where I was walking, please forgive me!" she blurted out without even looking to see who she had crashed into. " There is nothing to apologize for Whitetail" a soft voice spoke. Whitetail looked up and gasped in surprise "Lightstar!". The cat in front of her was none other than Lightstar, leader of Dawnclan. She was a cream-coloured cat with wise gentle, bright green eyes, and she was looking down on Whitetail with a smile on her face. "Don't look so surprised, you knew that I would come to visit our new guest" Lighstar smiled and walked past her to were Leafhollow stood beside the sleeping kit. "So this is the kit Morningflower told me about?" she mumbled " Has he woken up yet?" she asked and looked at Leafhollow, whom shook her head. "No, not yet, but I'm waiting" Leafhollow replied, Lightstar nodded "I understand, will you call me the moment he wakes up?" Leafhollow dipped her head " Of course, Lightstar". Lightstar looked at the kit, narrowing her eyes, looking thoughtful, before she headed for the exit. Whitetail knew she was just as curious and suspicious as she was about him. And that Lightstar thought tjat he might be one aswell. Lightstar stopped and looked over her shoulder at Whitetail "Are you coming?"she asked, and continued walking out of the medicine cat's den. Whitetail whom just remembered that she wasn't actualy supposed to be there, followed. As Whitetail yet again was headed out of Leafhollow's den, she was YET again stopped, when Leafhollow gasped "He's waking up!".

Whitetail stopped and turned around. Lightstar, who was half way out of the den already, stopped and looked over her shoulder at Leafhollow and the stirring kit.  
The kits eyelids moved and he opened his eyes, blinking. The kit had deep, dark blue eyes that sweeped over the den and finally rested on Lightstar, who had padded over to him and was now standing, looking down on him. "Where am I?" he asked, his voice as emotionless as his face " At the Dawnclan camp, in the medicine cats den. I am Leafhollow the medicine cat" Leafhollow replied in a calm, soothing voice. The kit flashed a glance at Leafhollow before looking back at Lightstar "And you are?" he asked, "I am Lightstar, leader of Dawnclan" she replied, ingnoring his disrespecteful tone. Leafhollow dipped her head to the side"Tell me little one, what is your name?" she asked, sounding curious. "I, er, I don't know"the kit mumbled, Lightstar lifted an eyebrow, confused "What do you mean by "I don't know?" she asked. The kit shrugged " I don't remember" he answered simply, looking up at Lightstar, not even blinking.

An eerie silence followed, neither cat saying anything, honestly no one knew what to say. This was the first time Leafhollow or any of the other cats had dealt with someone who had lost their memory, and they didn't know what to do. Finally the small kitten broke the silence "Do you know who I am?" he asked, his eyes flashing from Lightstar to Leafhollow within seconds. Still no one said anything, what were they supposed to say anyway? Sorry we can't help you, we don't know who you are and neither do you, obviousily? Though it wasn't entirely true. They did have an idea of who he might be, but they couldn't be sure, at least not yet. Besides, they couldn't tell him if he was what they thought he was. It would ruin him! No, they couln't tell him, they had to lie. Lightstar had seemingly come to that conclusion aswell, for when she finally spoke, she lied. "Of course I do, a leader never forgets a clanmate, no clan cat does" she said calmy, like she was used to lying "Your name is Silentkit and this is Whitetail" Lightstar gestured with her tail to were Whitetail stood " Your mother". Another eerie silence followed, the newly named Silentkit looked at Whitetail as If he had just noticed that she was there. Whitetail on the other half was shocked, she couldn't believe what Lightstar had just said, even though she knew and understood why she had said what she said. Lightstar had said it so that Silentkit would be more likely to believe her lie and also because she wanted to know more. And then there was the real reason..

Whitetail met Lightstar's gaze and she knew that she had to play along, so she nodded. "Yes sweetie, I am your mother, do you remember me?" she said in her most sweetest and calming voice. It seemed to work, as Silentkit closed his eyes looking comfortable, obviousily believing their lie. Whitetail padded up to him and curled beside him, licking his ear motherly. Silentkit fell sound asleep and curled closer to Whitetail whom still couldn't believe that she had actually, silently agreed to this. Lightstar nodded to her, her eyes grim and whispered "Take care of him, your his mother as of today" before she walked out of the medicine cat's den and vanished. Leafhollow sighed and dragged her way to her mossy nest to get som much deserved sleep. Whitetail looked down at Silentkit, a warm feeling spreading through her chest, for some reason Whitetail didn't think it would be difficult to pretend she was this kits mother. She had already started to care for him as if he was her own,


	3. CHAPTER 1: HOW ABOUT HIDE AND SEEK?

CHAPTER 1: HOW ABOUT HIDE AND SEEK?  
Rosekit charged into a heap of leaves closely followed by her brother and sister. The leaves scattered in every direction, Rosekit and her siblings tried to hit them with their tiny paws. She jumped into the air and hit the nearest leaf, landed on her paws and squealed in excitment. "I hit one!" she squealed "I hit one!" Rosekit looked from her sister, Mosskit, to her brother, Thornkit, with a big smile on her face "Great, I am going to hit more leaves than you!" Mosskit said, smiling aswell. Thornkit laughed "No way, I am the oldest so I am going to hit more leaves than the two of you together!"he said and fluffed out his chest to look bigger. Mosskit was slightly older than Rosekit, Thornkit being the oldest of the three and the only tom. Mosskit was a brown tabby with blue eyes, Thornkit was also brown, only that his pelt was lighter and he had silver eyes. Rosekit on the other end was a dark red tabby with amber eyes after their mother. The three of them were three moons old,only three more moons till they would become apprentices! "Thornkit, Mosskit, Rosekit!" Juniperberry, their mother, called from the nursery entrance. They turned around to see her waiting for them and ran as fast as they could over to her. "What is it?" they said almost simultanousely, Juniperberry chuckled "Your so sweet" she smiled "I was wondering If you could play with Silentkit while-"  
"No" Thornkit said firmly "we don't want to play with him", "But why not?" Juniperberry asked confused. "Cause he is scary, he almost never talks and all he does is just sit around staring into space" Mosskit said " It's no fun to play with him". Rosekit nodded in agreement, she didn't have anything against him, it was just that he creeped her out , there was just something about him that didn't feel right.

Juniperberry looked at them and sighed "Look we have been over this before. You know that it's not his fault that he is a little shy. Now go play with him before I send you all to bed for talking bad about him". Thornkit grunted "Alright, but only because I dont wanna go to sleep" he said. Juniperberry looked from Mosskit to Rosekit, waiting for their reply. "Alright, alright, I'll do it!" Mosskit said irritated, "What about you?" Juniperberry asked and looked at Rosekit. Rosekit nodded "Okay" she said, Juniperberry smiled "Great" she exclaimed "If I remember correctly you will find Silentkit over at the elder's den. If he is not there you will find him down at the river. Now of you go" she said and hushed them off to the elder's den. Silentkit was not there, and Flowerbed, one of the elders, said that she hadn't seen him at all that day. "And he who would always come visit us around this time of day" she mumbled and sighed "He is probably down by the river" she said. "We know! We are headed there right now!" Mosskit yelled over her shoulder as they ran towards the river on the opposite side of camp. There they found Silentkit staring blankly at his own reflection in the water, unmoving and unblinking. Rosekit and her siblings cast uncertain glances at one another, what were they supposed to say? If they did get him to play with them, what were they going to do? Silentkit wasn't exactly of the playful type, and he wasn't very strong, or so they thought, they didn't really know. Silentkit hadn't playfought with anyone, so no one knew how good he really was.

"Ask him!" Mosskit whispered silently and nudged Thornkit forwards, he shook his head wildly "Naha, not in the name of Starclan". Mosskit rolled her eyes "Are you a scaredy-cat" she taunted "Scaredy-cat, scaredy-cat". "I'm not a scaredy-cat, If your so brave why don't you ask him yourself" Thornkit bristled and whirled around to glare at Mosskit. Mosskit just shook her head "Your the oldest" she pointed out "Besides, I don't want to get my ears clawed off". Thornkit glared at her "What about Rosekit, she's the youngest" he said in a childish kind of way and tried to preserve his pride by keeping his head held high. Mosskit looked at Rosekit "Good point. Besides she's the fastest, she would easily be able to run away If he snaps". Thornkit nodded "Yeah, what do you say Rosekit?" he asked and looked at her questionly. Rosekit swallowed and nodded "I'll do it" she said trying to hide her nervousness. Thornkit and Mosskit's faces lit up "Thanks, we owe you one" Thornkit said relieved. Rosekit nodded and padded over to Silentkit. She could understand why they were so afraid of him. She had to admit that he was a little creepy, but how were they supposed to befriend him If they didn't even try?

"Er,Silentkit?" Rosekit began "I was wondering If you might want to,er I dont know,play with me and my siblings?". She looked down at the ground and shuffled her paws, you could practicly smell how nervous she was. Silentkit didnt even answer, just looked at her, his dark blue eyes calm and unreadable. He got to his paws and padded off still without saying anything, ingnoring her completely. "Wait!" Rosekit yelled after him, but he didnt stop, "Juniperberry and Whitetail told us to play with you!". Silentkit stopped and turned around, padded over to Rosekit and sat down in front of her, his eyes just as calm and unreadable as ever. "Er, are you going to play with us?" Rosekit asked still as nervous as she had been from the start, and Silentkit didn't answer just as he hadn't from the start. Rosekit swallowed "I take that as a yes?" still no answer "Yes it is then"she mumbled to herself. Rosekit flicked her tail to signall to her siblings that they could come out from behind the bush of bracken they had hid in after she had talked to Silentkit.

Rosekit couldn't help it, she just had to burst out laughing when she saw Thornkit. He would always boast about how brave he was and how nothing could scare him, how he would be the best warrior that had ever lived and how cats would love and respect him. And here he was, walking up to them with slow cautious steps, all his senses on alert, ready to turn tail If Silentkit as much as looked at him. Mosskit rolled her eyes and pushed him harshly forward towards Rosekit and Silentkit. Thornkit whimpered and tried to brake with his back paws, it failed and he crashed into Silentkit. He lay his ears and body flat as Silentkit looked at him, his dark, cold , blue eyes piercing his fur. He swallowed "H-hey" he stammered "I'm sor-sorry" Thornkit looked down, afraid to look Silentkit in the eyes. Silentkit just dipped his head in acknowledgement and turned his attention to Mosskit with a questionly stare. Mosskit dipped her head, trying to hide the slight tremor that went through her when Silentkit looked at her. "I'm Mosskit, his sister" she tilt her head at Thornkit "And hers" she added tilting her head at Rosekit. Silentkit narrowed his eyes and looked at Rosekit, just as cold and piercing as he had looked at Mosskit and Thornkit.

Rosekit felt as If his eyes could see right through her, like she was made of glass. She swallowed, nervous and slightly scared, she felt so small under his gaze. She shrunk and whispered "I'm Ro-Rosekit" she stammered unintentionally and clamped her mouth shut, embarrassed. Silentkit smirked, amused, he was clearly enjoying their fright. "And I'm Silentkit. But you propably already knew that, am I right?"his tone was amused but far from friendly as he eyed all three of them in turn. All of them nodded, to afraid to speak. They had already known that he was scary, but not like this. He was even more scary than any of them had thought, his dark, cold eyes and his cold attitude towards them creeped them out. Such a cold attitude couldn't be normal, no one was that cold, no one. Rosekit shivered as he looked at her "Well, what shall we play?" he asked, still sounding very amused "How about hide and seek?" his gaze shifted between the three and landed on Thornkit. He swallowed and nodded "Sounds like a good i-idea" he stammered and shrunk, his body lay even more flat on the ground then before. "Then it is settled then" Silentkit smirked "You'll hide and I'll try to find you. You can hide wherever you want in camp. Got it?". Rosekit swallowed and nodded, "Good, then hide" Silentkit said, a glint in his eyes "Before I catch you" he smirked, amused and arrogantly. Rosekit and her siblings turned tail and ran as fast as they could to find a place to hide. It was as If he knew exactly what to say to scare them, exactly how to look at them to make them shiver in fear

Rosekit instinctivly ran toward the nursery, desperatly wanting not to be found, she didn't want to get even more scared. She ran through the entrance without looking were she ran, and crashed right into a cat. She fell on her back with a thumb and lay staring up at the cat with wide, shocked eyes. The cat was a black she-cat with a white tail and glowing yellow eyes, Whitetail, Silentkit's mother. "Oh, hello Rosekit, I didn't see you there" Rosekit leaped to her paws and shook her head wildly, still frightened from before.. "Oh no, I was the one who didn't see you. I am so, so sorry, I was just-" Whitetail raised her tail, interrupting her. "Rosekit calm down, you sound panicked, Is something wrong?" Rosekit swallowed "N-no" she stammered and cursed herself under her breath for stammering. Whitetail lifted an eyebrow, "Really, are you sure, cause it sounds like something is wrong" Rosekit sighed, there was no way she could talk her way out of this after she had been so obviousily scared. "Is it that obvious?" she murmured, already knowing the answer, Whitetail nodded "Very!". Rosekit sighed again "We went to play with Silentkit just as you and Juniperberry asked us to-" Whitetail interrupted her again "You dont need to say any more", Rosekit blinked confused "Wha-". Whitetail sighed "He did the 'look' on you, didnt he?" Rosekit nodded, still confused "And then he offered to play hide and seek, am I right?" Rosekit nodded again. Whitetail sighed and shook her head "He does it every time, scaring cats so they wont play with him again. Personally I think he enjoys it, it makes him feel powerful". Whitetail sighed, and suddenly she looked much older than she was "I had hoped he wouldn't do it on you since you are the same age and all, but I guess I was wrong. Dont worry, you dont have to play with him anymore". Rosekit didnt know what to say, she was still scared, and slightly confused as well, so she just nodded. "Ill have a talk with Silentkit, you go find your siblings and tell them what I said. You dont have to worry about him anymore, okay?". Rosekit nodded, turned around and raced out of the nursery to find her siblings.

She found them after a while hiding in the medicine cats den, behind a stack of herbs. They peaked over the stack of herbs when she entered the den, and their eyes lit up. "Rosekit!" whispered Mosskit in a hushed voice "Over here!" Rosekit padded over to them and crouched beside Thornkit who was still Shaking. "Is he close?" he asked, his voice trembling, Rosekit shook her head "No, I dont think he has even started searching for us yet" she said, peaking over the stack of herbs. "Anyways, I went to the nursery to hide and there I met Whitetail. She told me that we dont have to play with Silentkit anymore" as Rosekit finished the sentence, Thornkit leaped to his paws and squealed happily "YEEESS! YES, YES!". Rosekit and Mosskit just stared at him like he was insane or something. Embarrassed, he sat down again, his face red. Mosskit giggled a bit before directing her attention to Rosekit "So we dont have to play with him anymore?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow skeptical and Rosekit knew that she didnt quite believe what she had told them. Rosekit nodded as convincingly as she could, and it seemed to work, as Thornkit and Mosskit relaxed a bit. "OK, now that we dont have to play with him, what shall we do?" Mosskit asked, glancing from Thornkit to Rosekit. Thornkit and Rosekit just shrugged, none of them knowing what they were supposed do. "I am tired, I think I am going to take a nap" Thornkit mumbled, yawning in between words, and padded off towards the nursery. Mosskit sighed and followed him "I dont know what else we are supposed to do, so I'll just take a nap aswell" she said. Rosekit was left standing alone in the den, but not for long. She hadn't noticed it before now, but she was actually pretty tired. With a sigh, she decided to follow her siblings and take a long, nice nap.


	4. CHAPTER 2: YOU RE DOING IT WRONG

The following days went by as usual and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Rosekit and her siblings played together and stayed as far away from Silentkit as possible. And Silentkit simply sat in his usual place doing whatever he used to do. Rosekit was getting bored of playing, catch the leaf, with her siblings and wanted to do something else. So one day she decided that she wanted to to see what the elders where doing and If they had Some good stories for her.

After listening to Runningwind meow on and on about how he became blind on one eye; a story everyone had heard a million times, Rosekit wanted to see If one of the apprentices would teach her some fighting moves. The first one she saw was Gingerpaw; a ginger she-cat with silver eyes. She was sharing a vole from the fresh-kill pile together with Webpaw; a dark grey tom with a white stripe on his forehead and green eyes. Rosekit padded over to them and greeted them with a happy smile. "Hey Gingerpaw,hey Webpaw!" she smiled, Gingerpaw looked at her and smiled "Well hello Rosekit, its nice to see you". Webpaw looked up from the vole and tilt his head "Did you want anything?" he asked. Rosekit nodded "I was wondering If you could show me Some fighting moves" she asked hopefully. "Oh, I am sorry Rosekit,we can't, Stonewall and Squirreljump is taking us out on a border patrol as soon as we finish eating. Maybe Some other time,okay?" Gingerpaw said, smiling friendly. "Oh, okay, I'll ask someone else then" Rosekit sighed, slightly dissapointed and padded off to find someone else.

Unfortunately, none of the other apprentices had time to play with Rosekit. They had to go on hunting and border patrols, take care of the elders or train. They were all so busy. Rosekit sighed, bored; there is nothing to do, she tought solemly and looked around the camp. Her siblings were playing catch the leaf outside the nursery,as usual, while their mother was watching them. Rosekit considered walking over to them, but she didn't want to play the same game over and over again, it was just so boring. Looking around, Rosekit saw Swiftpaw train in doing the hunter's crouch with his mentor, Cloudwhisker over by the warriors den. Rosekit watched him closely to see how he did it, and tried to copy him. Swiftpaw crouched low, his tail hovering above ground, nearly touching it. Rosekit tried to do the same, but struggled, she couldn't keep her tail low enough and it made her unbalanced.

"Good work Swiftpaw!" Cloudwhisker meowed,

Swiftpaw's eyes lit up and he grinned, proud of Cloudwhisker's praise.

Rosekit sighed, getting frustrated that she couldn't do it right. But she continued trying non the less. She had no idea how long she had been practicing the hunter's crouch, but by the time she gave up the sun was about to set. Juniperberry called her name from the nursery entrance, it was time to go to sleep.

Her siblings were already inside, curled up in their nests, talking excidetly about something. Rosekit padded over to them and curled up beside them, though she didn't want to sleep as she wasn't the least bit tired. Their mother came and lay beside them, nudging them closer to her to keep them warm.  
"Hush now, little ones, it is time to sleep, you will have plenty of time to talk tomorrow" she said warmly and curled her tail around them to keep them safe. Mosskit and Thornkit, whom stopped talking, lay their heads down to sleep.

Rosekit however didn't sleep, she lay awake staring out of the nursery entrance, wishing she could be outside practicing the hunter's crouch. Suddenly she got an idea, she had heard about how some of the appprentices, and even warriors, had snuck out camp when they were kits to explore. She wanted to get out as well, but not to explore, but to train. Carefully she slid under Juniperberry's tail, and creeped as silently as she could, afraid to wake the others, towards the nursery entrance. On her way she passed Whitetail and Silentkit, both of them sleeping. Rosekit stopped for a second and looked at Silentkit; he didn't seem all that intimidating when he was sleeping, she thought. As a matter of fact, he was kind of cute. Rosekit shook the thought away, frightened at the idea that Silentkit could be anything but scary.

When Rosekit crept out of the nursery entrance, the sun had disappeared behind the mountains and silverpelt shone bright in the night sky. Rosekit stared in awe at the night sky and the glowing half-moon that covered it. She stood there for a while, admiring the stars, before she managed to shake of her awe. Resuming were she had stopped earlier, she crouched down, keeping her tail as low as shee could without touching the ground. Suddenly a voice spoke behind her "Your doing it wrong..."

Startled, Rosekit whipped around, fluffed out her fur so she looked twize her size and threw herself at her opponent. She leaped as high as she could, the way she had seen the apprentices do. She planned on landing on her opponets back and chrushing it with her weight. But instead off landing on its back she crashed into the hardened ground, head-long. Her opponent had dodged aside at the moment she leaped. Rosekit scrambled to her paws and flung herself at her opponent once again, paw outstretched, ready to strike. But her opponent simply dodged lazily, she missed by a whole fox-lenght! She tried again, but this time her opponent was prepared with a counterattack. Before Rosekit could even lift her paw to strike, the cat flung itself at her and pinned her down with such brute force that she couldn't move a single muscle. "Alright, alright, I surrender, please dont hurt me!" she yelped, squeezing her eyes shut. "Open your eyes" the cat said, clearly amused. Rosekit was bewildered, the voice sounded familier. Slowly and carefully she opened her eyes. Rosekit gasped, cold, dark blue eyes stared down at her, glinting with amusememt.  
"S-silentkit"

Silentkit released her and sat down, watching her as she staggered to her paws. "W-what are you doing up so la-late?" Rosekit stammered, as always he didn't answer. He simply looked at her, his eyes still glinting with amusement. Rosekit shook her pelt to get rid of the dirt, while glancing cautiously at Silentkit. This is embarrasing; she thought, Silentkit was smaller than her, yet he was so much stronger, and scarier. Rosekit looked at her paws, shuffling them "H-how did you do th-that?" she asked, stammering "Defeat me s-so e-easily, I mean?"

"Practice" Silentkit answered plainly,

"Oh, I-I see" Rosekit shuffled her paws again,

"Your g-good" she stammered,

Rosekit blinked, was it just her or had Silentkit just smiled? She shook the thought away and mumbled "I'd better get back to the nursery" she walked past him and headed for the nursery. But Silentkit blocked her path. "W-what do you w-want" Rosekit stammered, taking a few steps back. "I could ask you the same" he answered, tilting his head. This time Rosekit was sure it wasn't just her imagination, Silentkit was actually smiling. "What makes you certain that I want something?" she asked, trying to sound calm. Silentkit smiled, "I can see it on your face" he said "You want to learn how to do what I did". Rosekit didn't say anything, she eyed Silentkit carefully, she was certain he could smell her fear. "I can teach you" Silentkit continued, smiling arrogantly, his eyes fixed on Rosekit, not wavering for a second. "What do you say?". Rosekit wasn't dumb, her mother had told her quite early on that cats rarely did favors without expecting something in return. "What's the catch?" she asked, her voice trembling a bit. Silentkit smiled "I do you a favor, and you do me a favor"

"What kind of favor?" Rosekit asked,

"Oh, you dont need to do me a favor just yet"

"So, when will I?"

"I'll let you know when. So what's your answer?"

Rosekit lashed her small tail, thinking hard, before replying "Yes, I want you to teach me. But on one condition. You have to be nice to me and talk to me like a normal cat". Silentkit nodded "Good, I accept your condition" he said firmly, leaving no doubt that the conversation was over, and stepped aside to let Rosekit pass.

Rosekit walked past without looking at him, afraid that he would see how scared she was, though he had probably smelled it already. As Rosekit curled down beside her mother and siblings, she wondered what kind of favor Silentkit wanted from her. And If she had done the right thing, accepting his offer.


	5. CHAPTER 3: NOTHING HAPPENED

Silentkit was left alone after Rosekit went back to the nursery. But it didn't bother him, he prefered being alone, it was less bothersome. He had always liked being alone, it gave him time to think.

Silentkit shivered, he was still shaky after the dream he had had, but it didn't seem like Rosekit had noticed. Despite that, Silentkit was in a very good mood. He had made a deal with Rosekit and now she owed him one. A favor he intended would be repaid, witch it undoubtetly would, when the time was right. Satisfied, he licked his lips, surpressing a yawn. Even though he was tired, he didn't feel like sleeping, cause he knew that If he fell asleep, he would dream that dream again, and he didn't want that. Silentkit wasn't the type of cat that easily got scared, but even he had to admitt that the dream frightened him. Why that was though, he didn't know. He tried not to think about it. While he sat there thinking, his thoughts ventured back to Rosekit and he remembered the day she had met her and her siblings.

It was about a quarter moon after he had woken up in the medicine cats den, and it was his first time outside. Whitetail had shown him around camp, she had just been about to take him into the nursery, when Rosekit and her siblings had come barging out from the entrance. It had startled him, and he had barely managed to dodge them. But thanks to his reflexes, he had dodged it in the nick of time. Rosekit and her siblings had stopped to apologize, but didn't stay long. Silentkit guessed it had been their first time outside the nursery, judging by the way they moved and how their tails were lashing back and forth in excitement at every small thing.

A smile, so small it was barely noticeable, spread across Silentkit's face as he thought about it. His first impression of them had been that they were stupid, and he still thought they were. Lightstar however, was different. Silentkit glanced over at the leader's den, a hollow treestump by the river at the far side of camp, a clump of lichen hanging above the entrance, hiding it and the one inside. Silentkit had always admired her, in a way, she was different from the rest of the clan. He couldn't tell wether she was lying or not. And it was just something about her that made him curious. It felt like she knew something, something important, something about him. Whatever it was she knew, she wasn't telling him, and that frustrated him. If she knew something about him, or suspected something, he had to know about it. If she- Silentkit shook his head, it didn't matter, as long as she didn't figure it out, he was safe.

Silentkit lifted his head and stared up at silverpelt, glowing brighter than the sun on the moonlit sky. He closed his eyes and let the light of silverpelt and the half-moon engulf him. A long time he stood like that, eyes closed, the wind ruffling his fur and silverpelt shining down upon him. Slowly he opened his eyes and blinked, a look of dissapointment on his face. Nothing had happened.

Silentkit sighed and rose to his paws, stretching his stiff muscles. He had sat there longer than usual, and yet nothing had happened. It was odd, normally the moon and the stars used to make him feel better, stronger. But this time he had felt nothing. Silentkit sighed, he couldn't stay awake forever, sooner or later he had to go to sleep, even if it meant dreaming that dream again. Silentkit turned and padded towards the nursery, with a last glance up at the night sky, he crept without making a single sound, back through the nursery entrance.

As Silentkit curled down beside Whitetail, a single thought crept into his mind; It didn't come.


	6. CHAPTER 4: IS THIS BETTER?

The next day, Silentkit completely ignored Rosekit like nothing had happened, and she in turn, ignored him. But then, a quarter moon after they had made the deal, while passing Rosekit in camp, Silentkit whispered in her ear. "Meet me by the river tonight at moonhigh" with that, he walked of, again, like nothing had happened.

Later that day, when everyone had gone to sleep in their dens, Rosekit snuck out of the nursery and slowly made her way to the river. Excitment bubbled in her stomach as she crept past the warriors and leaders den. Finally Rosekit reached the river, there she found Silentkit waiting, staring blankly at his reflection in the water. "Sorry I'm late" she panted, her nerves on end. It was already past moonhigh so they had to hurry If they wanted to get anything done. Silentkit nodded to show he accepted her apology, got up and started walking upstreams. "Where are we going?" Rosekit asked, struggling to keep up to Silentkit's quick pace. "Camp entrance" he replied briskly. Rosekit stopped dead in her tracks "We're leaving camp?"

"Yes"

"Why? Why can't we just train in camp?"

"It's too risky, someone might spot us"

"But it's forbidden! Only warriors and apprentices are allowed outside of camp! And even they aren't allowed to go out alone! What if we get caught?!" She gasped, shocked.

"We won't if you do exactly as I tell you" Silentkit replied briskly, without stopping.

Rosekit didn't know where the camp entrance was, it was first when she became an apprentice that she would get to know its location. Every time she asked why, they would just tell her it was too dangerous for her to know. That if she knew, she would propably sneak out of camp and get herself hurt, or worse, killed. So naturaly, she was curious to see where it was and what lay beyond. Silentkit led her to a thick bramble bush not to far from the high rock, a giant rock in between the medicine cats and apprentices den, where Lightstar used to address the clan. "Under here, follow me" Silentkit pointed his tail at the bramble bush. Rosekit's eyes widened, "Is that the entrance?" she asked, unable to hide how shocked she was. Silentkit nodded, he didn't seem surprised at all. Rosekit wondered how many times he had left the camp at night, but decided not to ask. Silentkit crouched and crept beneath the bramblebush, Rosekit following close behind. Rosekit had expected it to be full of roots or thorns, but instead there was a long tunnel stretching beneath the bush. The thorns and the roots had been pushed aside to make the tunnel safe and passable. There was surprisingly much space in the tunnel, enough to crawl through. It was considerably easier for the two of them because of their small size, but Rosekit could imagine how tight it had to be for a full-grown warrior.

After crouching for what seemed like forever, they finally reached the end of the tunnel and could creep out into sunlight again. Rosekit stopped to shake the dirt off her pelt, but Silentkit didn't stop. He continued walking, without bothering to shake his pelt, even though it was filled with dirt, nor wait for her. Rosekit scurried after him, falling in step beside him. "So where are we going now?" she asked, her tail in the air, "Just follow me" Silentkit replied and picked up the pace.

Rosekit was in awe, all around her were giant trees, stretching high up in the sky, thick undergrowth, bushes and plants. There was so many new smells, sights and sounds, that Rosekit barely knew what to make of. The world outside of camp was so different from what she was used to. She couldn't understand why something so beautiful and fascinating could be forbidden. Rosekit jumped into the air, startled, when a squirrel fled past her and scrambled up a treetrunk. Hot with embarresment, she tried to pretend it hadn't happened. This happened several times as she could neither hear or smell them. Silentkit on the other hand didn't get startled at all, he simply stopped and let the squirrels pass, before he continued.

Silentkit led her to a big oak a bit further from camp. The oak was hollow inside, and there was a big patch of sand around it. "This is called the sand oak. It is here that the apprentices train" Silentkit explained when he saw Rosekit's confused face. "It's here that we learn the basics of hunting and fighting" Silentkit sat down "And it's here, that I will teach you". Rosekit felt a surge of excitement as she nodded, her whole body itching to start. "Alright, show me your hunters crouch" Silentkit ordered. Rosekit did as he said, dropped down into a crouch and did exactly what she had done the other times. "Not too bad" Silentkit commented "But not perfect" he looked at her, his gaze studying and judgemental. " Your putting to much weight on your paws, it makes you unbalanced. You have to put more weight on your haunches, or the prey will hear you before they spot you" he instructed calmly, showing her how it was supposed to be done. Rosekit tried her best to do the same, but was insecure If she did it right. "Is this better?" she asked nervousily, afraid that he'd get mad at her If she did it wrong. He nodded "Yes, much better, but you can still put more weight on your haunches to make yourself more balanced-". Silentkit continued to instruct her, and she did as she was told. For a long time this went on, it wasn't untill the stars started to fade in silverpelt, and the first light of day shone on the horizon, that they made their way home.

During the following days, the two continued to train in the sand oak every night and slowly but surely, Rosekit improved. During this time, Rosekit also came to like Silentkit, she figured he wasn't such a bad cat. He didn't seem as cold, but not friendly either, he was something in between. Rosekit wasn't sure If he had come to like her aswell, or that he simply acted nice to her to keep his end of the deal. Either way it didn't matter.

A quarter moon later, Silentkit didn't show up at the sand oak and he was nowhere to be seen. It was the night of the gathering, when all the clans would meet and share tongues, so the leader and most of the apprentices and warriors had left camp, leaving a few behind to defend it. The full moon shone brightly in the sky, and Rosekit decided to use the light of the moon to guide her through the forest while she searched for Silentkit. She searched and searched, but couldn't find any trace of him. Mainly because she didn't dare go to far from the sand oak in fear of getting lost. Soon she gave up and returned to camp.

Rosekit crouched low and crept beneath the bramble bush. She crept, keeping low to the ground, and finally she could see the end of the tunnel. Rosekit crept out of the tunnel and shook her pelt, suddenly she froze. Webpaw and Crowpaw had been guarding the entrance, and now they stood staring down at her, their eyes wide in shock. "Rosekit! What are you doing out here?" Webpaw exclaimed, Rosekit didn't know what to say, she just stood there, to shocked to do anything. "Get back to the nursery, right now!" Crowpaw ordered, his voice was strict, but not angry, as he spoke. "You shouldn't be out here, by starclan, you shouldn't even know were the entrance is!" Wepaw silenced him with a flick of his tail. "Let me handle this" he said firmly and leaned down and picked her up by the scruff "I'll carry her back to the nursery" he said, his voice muffled by Rosekit's fur. Crowpaw nodded "I'll keep watch till you come back then" with that, he straightened and perked his ears, listening for any signs of danger.

Webpaw put her down outside the nursery, his green eyes met Rosekit's amber ones. "What were you doing outside of camp?" he asked, his voice hushed and gentle. Rosekit didn't reply, she simply looked him straight in the eyes. She didn't, couldn't, tell him or anyone else why she had been outside of camp. Webpaw lifted his head higher when she didn't reply, but still his eyes were locked to hers. "How did you know were the entrance was?" he asked, louder and more determined then last time. Rosekit thought she'd tell him how, just so that Silentkit would share some of the blame. "Silentkit showed me were it was" she replied as casually as she could, but there was a slight tremor in her voice. "How did he know of it?" he continued questioning, Rosekit shrugged "I dont know". Her voice was sincere when she spoke as it was the truth, she truly didn't know how he had come to learn it's location. Webpaw narrowed his eyes, looking thoughtful "Okay then, go to sleep now. I will inform your mother tomorrow and she will decide your punishment" he got to his paws and started walking away. "Wait!" Rosekit called after him "What about Silentkit?" Webpaw looked at her over his shoulder "I will inform Whitetail and Lightstar so that they might question him and decide his punishment. Now go to sleep". With that he padded back to the camp entrance to resume guarding with Crowpaw and left Rosekit standing alone at the entrance.

Rosekit sighed, she had forgotten that there were always warriors or apprentices stationed by the entrance every full moon, and she had been spotted. What worse was, that she hadn't even found Silentkit. She felt so stupid and utterly helpless; were was he? She shook her head, why did she care? He had been nothing but rude to her, although during the past quarter moon he had been kinder. She shook her head and got up; it wasn't her problem, she shouldn't worry about it, he was propably just wandering through the forest, lost on his own thoughts, propably. Silently, afraid to wake the others, Rosekit walked through the nursery entrance. It was dark and she could only see the sleeping silhouetes of the others. She looked over at Whitetail, and as expected, yet to her dismay, Silentkit was nowhere to be seen. Rosekit curled down beside her mother and siblings, and closed her eyes,. At the moment her eyes closed, she fell asleep from sheer exhaustion. That night she slept an uneasy sleep, filled with dreams of Silentkit wandering lost through the forest.


	7. CHAPTER 5: JUST A MEDICINE CAT S CONCERN

Leafhollow had just woke up when she heard noises outside her den. Who would be awake at this hour? She wondered. She poked her head out of the den's entrance to see what all the noise was about. Over at the nursery she could see Webpaw talking to Rosekit. It surprised her to see the young kit outside so late and she wondered If perhaps something was wrong. She thought that she should go ask them herself, but before she could make a move, Webpaw left and Rosekit went back into the nursery. Leafhollow felt a sting of worry for the young kit, whatever she had gotten herself into, it didn't look good. But she couldn't look into it right now, it was late, long past moonhigh, and she didn't want to disturb anyone. Besides, she had work to do. She had to go out to collect the neccessary herbs, and this was the only time she could do that without having to be guarded by a hord of warriors all the time. She sighed as she padded out of her den and towards the camp entrance. Normally she would have been at the gathering, but Brightheart was so close to kitting that Leafhollow didn't dare leave camp, in case something happened while she was away. Ever since the new rules had been made, she could only collect herbs at night if she wanted to be alone, and she had to be extra cautious to not make a single sound while doing it too. It frustrated her, but she understood why, given the current state of alarm the clans were in at the moment. Her thougts drifted back to that faithful day two and a half moon ago, when the discovery had been made, and the new rules set. It remimded her that she shouldn't be alone outside of camp at night, or she would possibly risk death. But she had to do it, she needed her alone time and space to think. But then again, was it really worth dying for to just get some time alone? No, it wasn't, but still she did it. Maybe it wasn't just because she wanted to be alone that she did it. Perhaps she merely wanted to get it over with so she could fully concentrate on her patients during the day? Or was it because-? She shook her head, it was a stupid question, one if whom she knew the answer to.

As her thoughts drifted, Whitetail suddenly popped up into her mind. This wasn't the first time she had shown up in Leafhollows mind and, suffice to say, she was worried. The young she-cat had had it though throughout greenleaf, and her mental state had been...unstable, mildly put. But Leafhollow had noticed a change in her behavior the past moons since they had found Silentkit. Whitetail had become..different, more like her old self, and that relived Leafhollow greatly. She had been beginning to fear that the she-cat would never go back to being her happy old self. Not since... Leafhollow shook her head, she didn't want to get reminded of what had happened, it was just to sad and painful, along with everything else.

As Leafhollow continued her trek through the forest,she stopped frequently to search for herbs or berries. As of yet she had only found a bit of juniperberries and a few borage leaves, and that was not enough. She had to find some marigold or poppy seeds, as she was getting low in stock. She resumed her searching all the while getting lost in thought again. After thinking about Whitetail, her mind shifted over to Silentkit. Leafhollow was a bit insecure of what to think of him. He was smart, too smart for his own good, that much she knew. When she thought about him, she felt sad. Whitetail hadn't gotten any milk to give to him, so Juniperberry had had to feed him. He and Whitetail didn't have any close relationship, as Whitetail was only in the nursery when she had to sleep. She had gone back to warrior duties even though she had been tasked with looking after Silentkit. The clan couldn't afford keeping her in the nursery. Worse was, that he didn't seem to care. Leafhollow was starting to wonder if perhaps Silentkit had started to remember something. Silentkit intrigued her, sparking a curiousity in her she hadn't had since her kithood. There was something about him that made her longing to know more, and that was a feat few could achieve. Even though he was so young, he had already gained hers, and many others, respect and admiration. He was just so different, wether it was in a good way or bad had yet to be proven. The fact that he had been able to survive the fatal wounds he had had when they had found him, was astonishing. He would grow up to become a strong and cunning warrior more than capable of taking care of himself, she was sure. But still, something about him worried her. He was barely social and he never talked to anyone except Whitetail, and in some rare cases, the elders. He seemed cold, emotionless, like he didn't care. Leafhollow knew that cats like that could become very dangerous if they weren't thaught the right way. And she would hate to see him fall on the bad side, if he did, he would become something utterly vicious and terrifying. Something so lost and angry that he would kill anyone who opposed him. She had seen it happen before, and that was something she never wanted to see again. Leafhollow had to make sure Silentkit got a good mentor that would lead him on the right track. She had to talk to Lightstar about that in the morning.

Now that she was on the subject of kits, her thoughts wandered to Juniperberry's kits. First came Rosekit. Leafhollow furrowed and eyebrow, what was there to say? She was a nice young she-cat with good manners and respect for those older than her. That was pretty much it, Leafhollow thought. Rosekit was of the type that one couldn't predict, Silentkit as well. You never knew what they could grow up to become. Now Thornkit, Rosekit's older brother, was a different case. His path was clearly leading to that of a warrior. Leafhollow chuckled, he was very amusing to watch. He had such a weird sense of humor, that and the fact that he was so jumpy. He was easily startled by nearly anything. But he was sure to grow out of that. He wasn't the smartest of the litter, but he was fiercly loyal. That was both a good and a bad thing. His loyalty would lead him to do anything to protect his clan, but it would also cloud his judgment. He would also need careful coaching. The only remaining one was Mosskit, and personally her favorite. She hadn't thought much about her before. She had seemed so cocky and arrogant, like she believed she was better than her siblings. But Leafhollow had learned that the skin could betray. Mosskit was not as cocky and arrogant, no, she was smart, loving and she had an interest in herbs. She had even asked to become her apprentice. Leafhollow smiled, she could easily imagine Mosskit becoming medicine cat after her. Mosskit reminded her of herself at that age. She had also been interested in herbs and asked the former medicine cat, her mentor, Berrynose, to become her apprentice quite early on. Leafhollow couldn't help but to smile and laugh a bit when she thought about her old mentor. She remembered that Berrynose would always sit lost in her own thoughts. And whenever she would ask what she thought about, her answer would always be the same thing. "Just a medicine cat's concern" was what she would always answer. Leafhollow hadn't understood what that meant at the time, but now she did.

Finally, she found what she was looking for, a few poppy seeds and some marigold. Satisfied, she started on the long trek back to camp. Suddenly she heard a twig snap behind her. Instinctively she dropped down into a crouch, her ginger fur blending in well with the rotten undergrowth of leaf-fall. Her ears perked up, her eyes scanning the undergrowth for any signs of the one who had snapped the twig. Thoughts were racing through her mind at top speed. How long had it been stalkimg her? What could it be? Was it a rouge? A kittypet? Loner? Fox? Then a thought crossed her mind. Could it be..? No, it couldn't be it, if it was, it wouldn't have exposed itself like that. She wouldn't have heard it, as a matter of fact, she would havee been dead long ago if it was. Still, she should be cautious, it might be a trap of some sort. Perhaps whoever it was wanted to trick her into believing that it was vulnerable by exposing itself. Or perhaps it hadn't ment to snap that twig, perhaps it was a lost kittypet. Aagh, what should she do? Should she make a run for it, or should she stay hidden? Cautuiously, she sniffed the air. She couldn't smell anything in particular, whoever it was, it was good at masking it's scent, or perhaps it had fled when that twig had snapped. But if that was the case, she should have smelled something. She was sweating now, all her nerves on end, ready to take off at any sign of movement. But nothing happened, the forest was utterly still. Yet, she didn't dare move. For a long time she crouched, in fear that if she moved, her soul would join Starclan before she had ran two tail-lenghts. Hours passed by and soon the sun rose above the horizon. It was first then that she dared to move. Stretching her stiff muscles while keeping a close eye on her surroundings, she started walking slowly and cautiously towards camp.

Utterly exhausted, Leafhollow plumped down in her nest. She had reached camp without anything happening, but her nerves was still uneasy. Tired, she lay her head on her paws, and closed her eyes. The camp had begun to stirr and she had managed to slip past the camp entrance guards unnoticed. Leafhollow knew that soon she would be busy tending to the clan, and she wanted to get some much needed sleep. So as soon as she closed her eyes, she was fast asleep.


	8. CHAPTER 6: THE PRANKMASTER HITS AGAIN!

Thornkit ran as fast he could, his own laughter ringing in his ears. Behind him, Stonewall and Sharpclaw chased after him, soaked in mouse bile. What a blast! Another succesful prank. Thornkit ran behind the nursery and hid in a bush. There he waited with a big grin on his face, excited to see if they would find him. "Fox-dung, we lost him!" Thornkit heard Sharpclaw curse "That mousebrain, now I am goimg to stink for a quarter moon!". Thornkit had to hold a paw in front of his mouth to stop himself from bursting out into laughter. "Let's just give up. Face it, it's not like punishing him will help. He'll just do it again. Come on" Stonewall said "We need to wash this off before it gets stuck". "Tsk, alright, but I swear by Starclan, if I get my paws on him.." Sharpclaw hissed, clearly angry. Thornkit waited till he was sure they had left, before he came out of his hiding place, a big grin on his face. "Todays prank, check!" he said to himself, his tail wagging happily. He walked proudly into the nursery, his head and tail held high. Brightheart and Darkcloud, two queens expecting kits, were the only two people in the nursery except for him and his sister, Rosekit. He walked over to Brightheart, a white she-cat with blue eyes, and sat down beside her. "Hi, Brightheart!" he smiled, she looked up at him and smiled back. "Oh, hello Thornkit. How are you today?" she asked, her voice kind and gentle. She seemed glad to see him. "Super-duper!" Thornkit exclaimed, "I pranked Stonewall and Sharpclaw! They are going to stink mouse-bile for days!" he laughed and jumped triumphantly up and down. Brightheart laughed "The prankmaster hits again!" she batted him lightly on the ears. "You are just adorable!" she smiled and followed him with her eyes, as he jumped up and down."Pfft, he is a nightmare if you ask me!" Darkcloud, a dark grey she-cat with lighter flecks and amber eyes, snorted in a corner of the nursery, annoyed. "All the pranks he pulls, sooner or later he is going to step over the line and hurt someone" she grunted, tilting her head towards Thornkit and licked her chest. "Oh, Darkcloud, don't be so grumpy, your not an elder just yet" Brightheart smiled mischievously, obviously hinting that she was getting old. Thornkit laughed so hard that he lay flat out on the floor, shaking violently. Darkcloud shook her head, "Kits" she snorted and curled down to rest.

Thornkit had stopped laughing and pushed himself up to a sitting position. A thought had crossed his mind, what if Darkcloud was right? What if he would hurt someone one day because of his pranks. Thornkit shook his head, he would never hurt his clanmates, ever. He was careful, he knew where the line went, and he would not step over it. To get his mind of the subject, he turned his attention back to Brightheart. "So, when are your kits coming" he asked, honestly curious. "Leafhollow says that it's just a few days left!" Brightheart smiled, her eyes glowing in excitement and anxioty. Brightheart had moved in to the nursery one and a half moon ago, amd Darkcloud came half a moon afterwards. This was Brighthearts first litter together with her mate, Dirtcloud. Darkcloud had had several litters before, now on her fourth with her life long mate, Runningwind. Runningwind had recently moved to the elders den after he had gotten greencough. Luckily Leafhollow had been able to heal him before it turned in to whitecough. But Runningwind had never become fully healthy afterwards, and he eventually decided to move to the elders den. "So it won't be long now then?" Thornkit was unable to hide his curiousity and excitement. Brightheart's litter would be the first other kits in the nursery except them, since Gingerpaw and Sandpaw left the nursery. The prospect of having kits to play with, made Thornkit's fur tingle with excitement. Brightheart nodded, her eyes gleaming with excitement "Soon" her voice was a low whisper as she spoke. Thornkit grinned, his tail wagging happily. "Now go play with your siblings, kits your age should be outside having fun!" Brightheart shooed Thornkit towards Rosekit "Go ask her to play!". Thornkit did as he was told and padded over to Rosekit. She sat in the back of the nursery, shuffling her paws, head lowered. Thornkit knew full well what had happened last night. He felt a twinge of sympathy for his sister, she was in so much trouble!

"Hey, wanna play?" He asked, tilting his head with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He knew exactly what they were going to do, it was going to be so much fun! Besides, it would help her forget what had happened last night. Rosekit simply shook her head without looking at him. "Oh, come on! I just pranked Stonewall and Sharpclaw. I made them trip in some moss soaked with mouse bile! I thought the two of us together with Mosskit could go prank them again!"he persisted. Rosekit sighed and looked at him, her eyes were dull and sleepy. "I can't, I am not allowed to leave the nursery till I have spoken with Lightstar" she sounded tired, Thornkit guessed she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. "Oh, I see, I'll go ask Mosskit then!" He tried his best to sound enthusiastic, but he couldn't hide his dissapointment. Thornkit turned to leave the nursery, but not before he brushed his muzzle to her cheek. "See you later" he purred, "Yeah, see you later" she purred back and batted his ear. Thornkit sighed, he had wanted to play with both Rosekit and Mosskit. But it made sense that she had been confined to the nursery. Their mother had told them countless times that it was dangerous outside of camp and that they might die if they went out at night alone. Still, it wasn't fair! They could at least let her leave the nursery and come play with him. But done was done, and there wasn't much he could do about it. As he left the nursery he looked around for Mosskit. He saw her talking with Leafhollow outside the medicine cat's den and padded over to her. "Hey Mosskit, wanna play?" He asked as he stopped beside her, his ears perking hopefully up. "I am sorry, but I can't right now" Mosskit replied, sounding honestly sad. "Leafhollow promised to teach me more about herbs" she explained "Perhaps we can play later?" Mosskit tilted her head, pleading him to understand that it wasn't anything personal, though it felt like it was. Thornkit sighed, "Okay, I'll figure out something to do on my own, don't worry" He brushed his muzzle to hers like he had done with Rosekit. She returned his affection by licking him on the forehead, before she followed Leafhollow who had went into her den.

Thornkit looked around the camp. All the warriors and apprentices were busy reinforcing the walls and dens with bramble bushes and branches around the camp, or out on hunting or border patrols. He spotted Sandpaw talking excitedly with Webpaw about something as she gave Happywave some bramble branches. Lightstar was whispering silently to Morningflower as the hunting patrol returned with fish and a few mice and water voles in their mouths. As far as Thornkit could tell, nothing was out of the ordinary, the camp was always that busy. But he had overheard some of the warriors talking about how much had changed during the past moons. Apparently, they rarely had needed to reinforce the dens and walls around the camp before. He didn't know what had happened, honestly he didn't really care, it all seemed natural to him. Though he had to admit he was a little curious as of why the clan had changed so much. He had tried to ask, but they had only said he would get to know when he became older.  
As he continued to scan the camp, he saw Stonewall and Sharpclaw work on the warriors den together with Swiftpaw and Crowpaw. Thornkit sighed, that meant he wouldn't be able to prank them, he would have to find someone else to prank. He narrowed is eyes to block out the sun who shone in his eyes. As he did so, he saw Runningwind dozing off on the warm rocks beside the elders den. The rocks would be warmed by the sun and was the perfect place if you wanted to get a good nap. He smiled mischievously, he knew exactly how to prank him!

As silently as he could, Thornkit crept into the medicine cat's den and started searching through a pile of moss. Finally he found what he was searching for, a soft, white feather. Afterwards, he put the feather down beside Runningwind, before he padded towards the dirtplace. The dirtplace was located behind the apprentices den. It was a tunnel that led to a narrow place where cats went to make dirt. He picked up a mouthful of leaves and padded inside. Instantly, a foul smell hit his nostrils and he tried his best not to gag. But the smell was to foul and he choked and coughed as he sniffed around. After a while, Thornkit picked the, freshest, smelliest and most foul looking dirt he could find, and wrapped it in the leaves. He wrinkled his nostrils as he carried the bundle of leaves, it smelled so awful! But it would do nicely for what he had planned. Runningwind lay flat out on the stone, paws outstretched on both sides and his mouth half open, while snoring loudly. Thornkit lay the bundle of leaves down in Runningwind's right paw, giggling, this was going to be awesome! He picked up the feather and jumped up on the rock so that he stood directly above Runningwind. He leaned down and tickled his nose with the feather. Runningwind grunted and wrinkled his nose, but he didn't move. Thornkit leaned down and tickled his nose a second time with the feather. This time Runningwind moved. He lifted his right paw, the one with the leaf wrapped dirt, and slammed his nose to to get rid of whatever was tickling him. The dirt exploded in his face with a loud plop. Thornkit barely managed to leap off the rock in time. "YEEAARRGHH!" Runningwind screamed as the dirt hit him right in the face. He leaped into the the air and landed on the ground on all four legs, shaking his head violently and spitting on the ground, trying to get the dirt out of his mouth. "WHAT IN STARCLAN'S NAME IS THIS!?" Runningwind yelled, looking around, his eyes burning with the fury of a warrior, he had yet to lose his fighting spirit. The rest of the clan had stopped with what they were doing and ran towards Thornkit and Runningwind to see what the commotion was all about. Some of them had their claws unsheathed, pelts bristling. Even Lightstar and Morningflower had stopped talking and ran over to them. But when they saw Runningwind, face covered in dirt, pelt bristling and eyes glaring furiously for the one responsible, some of them couldn't resist bursting into laughter.

"Bwaahaa!" Cloudwhisker was the first to laugh, Happywave, Badgerstroke and Lionscream not far behind. "DO YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY!?" Runningwind bristled "When I find out who did this-!" Runningwind was cut short by Lightstar. "Take it easy, Runningwind, it's just a little dirt" she said calmly, though there was a hint of amusement in her voice, "It won't do you any harm". Runningwind looked at Lightstar and sighed "I am sorry for disturbing you all. I'll go wash it off". Lightstar shook her head "No need to apologize. Let me get someone to help clean it off" she offered. "No there's no need to-" Runningwind began, "Of course there is! Besides, I think that the one responsible should help clean up the mess" Lightstar interrupted and looked at Thornkit. Runningwind followed her gaze till it landed at him. His eyes narrowed, barely visible through the dirt "I should have known.." He sneered, flexing his stiff, old muscles. "Heehe, sorry, I just wanted to have some fun!" Thornkit laughed nervously. He had no wish, whatsoever, to help clean the dirt away. But he didn't have much of a choice, and arguing about it wouldn't do any good. So he followed Runningwind down to the river, where he started cleaning away the dirt. As Thornkit stood there, scrubbing the elders face with a clump of water soaked moss, he couldn't help but to think it was worth it just to see Runningwind's reaction.


	9. CHAPTER 7: YOU MAKE ME SICK

**Authors note: It might be a while between each time I update as I am a fairly busy person and I have a life besides writing. I just recently got a new dog, three-four weeks ago in fact, and he is a lot of work. On top of that I have school and homework. I know I am just making excuses, and I am sorry, but I can promise you this, I will update sooner or later, so no worries. Oh, I have got a question for you - three in fact - who is your favorite and least favorite character so far, and, are you beginning to understand what is going on? I´d really like to know.**

**Willowspring1: Maybe, I have yet decide if there will be any Silent x Rose (Silentrose). It all depends on if the pairing is popular, or if that´s what you want.**

CHAPTER 7: YOU MAKE ME SICK...

The next morning Thornkit´s muscles ached and he was completely exhausted. He groaned and complained to his mother, who only shook her head. "Don´t complain, you brought this upon yourself. Now go along now, you can´t spend the entire day in the nursery" she nudged him out of the den and looked at him sternly "Be a good boy now and don´t cause trouble", then she padded towards the elders den, most likely to apologize to Runningwind for the tenth time. Thornkit glared after her, still angry at all the scolding he had received the day before.

He sat down outside the nursery, not knowing what to do, again. He hadn't seen his siblings at all that day, mostly because he had spent the entirety of it in the nursery. Part of him wanted to go find them and ask them if they wanted to play with him, but he knew that it would only be a waste of time. Mosskit was busy in the medicine cat´s den, learning all she could about herbs. Thornkit would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised that she wanted to be a medicine cat, he had always been so sure that she would be a warrior. Though he would never admit it, he thought of her as strong and smart, albeit a bit annoying, but she was still his sister and he loved her.

And then there was Rosekit. He hadn't seen her since before he had pranked Runningwind and she had been in a bad mood. Thornkit had sensed her nervousness and frankly, he was worried about her. The only thing stopping him from finding her and cheering her up was the fact that right now she was talking with Lightstar in the Leader´s den.

Sighing, he glanced around. The camp was unusually quiet, no one was running around, reinforcing the walls or going in and out of camp, coming from or going out on a border or hunting patrol. Most of the warriors where simply relaxing and bathing in the sun, except for the senior warriors who had a meeting behind the Leader´s den. It was rather strange really, in all Thornkit´s four moons of life he had never seen something like this.

Suddenly, an idea came to mind. Smiling, Thornkit got up and walked towards the Leader´s den, it was time to get some answers.

He had constantly asked his clanmates why they were reinforcing the walls all the time and why there were so many patrols, and as every other time, they wouldn't answer and he was tired of that, not to mention curious as to why they wouldn't give him the answer he craved. So now he had decided to take matters into his own paws. If they wouldn't tell him, he simply had to figure it out on his own. And what better way to that then to spy on the senior warriors meeting.

Creeping silently, he positioned himself in beneath a bramble bush behind the Leader´s den. From there he had a clear view to the four senior warriors assembled in a circle a few feet from him. He recognized the warriors immediately. The first, the one closest to him, was Dirtcloud, a dirt coloured tom with green eyes. On his left was Squirreljump; a light cream coloured she-cat with brown eyes and on his right was Silvertail; a light grey she-cat with a silver tail and yellow eyes. Across from Dirtcloud, and the one furthest from Thornkit, was Lionscream; a big golden tabby tom with amber eyes.

As he perked his ear to listen, he heard the end of a sentence that Dirtcloud had spoken, "-is good". Squirreljump nodded "All our attempts at finding the culprit has ended in failure, as you said Dirtcloud, the one responsible is very good". Silvertail sighed "The clan can´t keep this up much longer. It has been almost four moons and cats are starting to get tired".

"Can´t say I don't blame them" Lionscream said in his deep, rumbling voice, "The past moons have been tiring on all of us"

"True" Dirtcloud nodded, "And the fact that the culprit is still out there worries many. The thought that the same might happen to us..." he trailed off and looked at his paws.

No one said anything for a while, all of them seemed lost in thought about something. A few minutes past before Silvertail spoke up "Happywave is late" she glanced over at the rest of the camp, barely missing Thornkit beneath the bush.

"She´ll come, no worries" Dirtcloud said and licked the fur on his chest. "Now, where were we...Oh, right! As mentioned before, the culprit has yet to be caught and we have found no clues as to who the culprit is. None of the other clans have seen or heard anything, but they are all on the lookout. It wont be long now till we have found the one responsible"

"Don´t get your hopes up" Happywave said as she made her way to the other senior warriors, brushing through the bushes just past Thornkit.

Silvertail looked at her, a teasing grin plastered on her face "You're late" she said in a teasing voice, "And I who thought you said that you would come when you were supposed to this time".

Happywave chuckled and licked Silvertail´s forehead affectionately "I am sorry, Leafhollow asked me to check up on Brightheart, her kits are due to come any day now".

She sat down beside Silvertail and wrapped her tail around her own paws. Lionscream nodded at her, a serious look on his face as he said "I must agree with Happywave" he nodded at her again "I doubt that, even with all the other clans searching as well, that we will find the culprit any time soon. It is simply too much to hope for. If my experience as a warrior has taught me anything it is that an answer never comes easily and this is no exception" he took a moment to glance at all of them before he spoke again "Now, earlier today I asked Leafhollow if she had had any dreams or omens, but she said that she has had nothing".

Dirtcloud lashed his tail and shook his head, clearly frustrated "I don't get it, why have Starclan been silent? Surely they should have given us some kind of clue or hint, or at least helped us!" his voice got louder as he spoke, and he started to sound angry.

Lionscream didn't reply, he simply shook his head and glanced at the sky, looking thoughtful. He wasn't the only one. All the other senior warriors had the same thoughtful look to them, some looked more angry or frustrated. But Happywave, Thornkit noticed, looked more sad than anything. He was so taken aback by that as he wasn't used to seeing her sad. She was normally always in a good mood, smiling to everyone and everything. What was more surprising was that none of the others seemed to notice.

It didn't look like they would continue their meeting anytime soon, so Thornkit decided that there was no use in staying there anymore. Though he did want to hear more, he was curious as to what it all meant, and if truth were to be told, he had no idea what the things he had just hard meant.

He was just about to back out of the push when he crashed into something, or rather someone. Startled, he was about to open his mouth to scream, but before he could do so, a tail was stuffed in his mouth and he was dragged out of the bush and tossed heavily on the ground. Shaking the dust off his pelt, he growled at the one who had tossed him "What´s the big idea!? Coming behind me like that and scaring me, just who do you think-" he stopped dead when he saw who it was.

In front of him, Silentkit stood staring at him calmly, his head slightly tilt "I could ask you the same" he replied coolly. Thornkit took a few steps back "I just- I didn't do anything wrong!" he stuttered as he spoke and cursed beneath his breath for being such a coward. Though Silentkit gave no mention he had hear the cursing, he simply continued to stare at Thornkit calmly.

"You were spying on the senior warriors" Silentkit said, his eyes narrowing slightly "What did you hear?" there was a slight wariness and suspicion to his tone. Thornkit blinked, confused as to what he meant, but he quickly caught on and snapped back at Silentkit "That´s none of your business!"

Silentkit narrowed his eyes and his tail lashed as he replied "As a matter of fact it is", Thornkit opened his mouth to ask why, but Silentkit cut him off "And before you ask, I am not going to tell you why". He took a step forward, his voice suddenly changed, it sounded darker and more menacing "Now, tell me what you heard and what you know about it".

Thornkit to another few steps back, the fur on his back bristling with fear, and his voice shaky as he spoke "T-t-they talked about some culprit, a-and how they haven't caught w-whoever it is". Thornkit stopped, but Silentkit nodded for him to continue to speak, "They a-also said that the clan was tired, a-and that Leafhollow had had no d-dreams f-from Starclan".

"Do you know anything about the culprit?" Silentkit asked. Thornkit shook his head, "N-no, this is the f-first I have heard of i-it". Silentkit´s tail lashed again and his eyes narrowed even more. He was clearly not pleased with answer, though Thornkit couldn't imagine why he wouldn't be.

Silentkit mumbled something beneath his breath, Thornkit could have sworn that he had said "Darn it!", but he hadn't heard it very clearly, so he couldn't be sure. A feeling of confusion came over him, mixed with that of fear. Why was Silentkit so interested in what the senior warriors had talked about? Especially the culprit? Why had he cursed? These questions and a million others surged through his head.

"Is everything alright here?" a voice asked. Behind Silentkit, Lionscream pushed past the bushes and walked up beside him, glancing between Thornkit and Silentkit, "I hope you aren't having a fight".

Thornkit shook his head trying his best to hide is raising panic. Did they know that he had spied on them? He felt himself getting hot around the ears, he could only hope that Lionscream wouldn't notice.

The other senior warriors came up behind Lionscream and brushed past him, nodding in greeting to the young kits.

Lionscream smiled down at Thornkit "Are you looking forward to becoming a warrior?" he asked, his deep, rumbling voice, calm and gently.

Despite Thornkit´s raising panic, he knew he had to play it calm, or Lionscream would get suspicious. He forced himself to grin as widely as he could, and said, as excitedly as he could make his voice sound, "You bet! I cant´t wait to be a warrior. I´ll be so powerful and strong that the other clan will shiver!"

Lionscream chuckled, it was a deep, powerful sound, and it mad Thornkit´s spine prickle. "You keep on dreaming, little Thornkit. Who knows, perhaps it will become reality one day". With that, Lionscream went over to the other senior warriors, who stood waiting for him outside the leader´s den together with Morningflower.

Thornkit took a few steps back, still with the fake grin on his face, "I´d better get going, so- er – see you later" he was about to turn and run, but before he could Silentkit stepped in front of him, a sudden anger and rage in his eyes.

"How?" Silentkit growled, Thornkit just looked confused and frightened at him, "How can do that?".

"D-do what?" Thornkit asked, backing away from Silentkit.

Silentkit took a step closer "How can you pretend that everything is alright when it´s obviously not?" he snarled, his voice low and threatening.

"I-I don´t know what you-" Thornkit stammered, tripping over his own paws as he backed even farther away from him.

"Don´t lie!" Silentkit hissed, "I can smell your fear! Back then it was as clear as day, you were panicked. Now, answer me! How did you manage to pretend that everything was alright, that you were not afraid, that we were not...fighting?!"

"I-I just did it okay!" Thornkit stammered, lowering his body so that his chest touched the ground, "I didn't want Lionscream to n-notice that I was scared, s-so I pretended to be happy and e-excited" his entire body shook as he spoke, and his voice was a low whimper.

Silentkit grunted, hate blazing in his eyes as he swirled around and stalked off. "Cats like you-" he looked over his shoulder, his eyes dark "-make me sick".

Thornkit´s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. He was completely speechless. He didn't know what to say, or what to think, as Silentkit walked off, leaving him there to stare after him in shook.

He just lay there, without moving an inch, trying desperately to calm his erratic breathing and his racing hearts. As he lay there, a scream suddenly split the air, shrill and filled with pain. It was Brightheart!


End file.
